This blog was created by the Purdue Beef Team as an educational forum for beef producers and Extension educators. It includes timely news, issues, and management tips that have the potential to affect the beef business and decision-making process. Opinions expressed in the news clips do not necessarily represent those of Purdue University or the beef industry.

This year’s concerns over mycotoxins in corn and distillers grains are among the timely and vital topics that will be covered at the 14th annual Distillers Grains Symposium presented by the Distillers Grains Technology Council.

Mycotoxins in corn and DDGs, stemming from mold, will be discussed at this year’s Distillers Grains Symposium. (Photo courtesy Dirk Maier, Kansas State University)

The symposium will be held May 12-13 at the Sheraton Indianapolis Hotel and Suites in Indianapolis, Ind.

Cydectin does not kill the eggs per se. It kills the worms that produce the eggs. The eggs are passed from the digestive system. These do not mature into adult worms fro the egg stage within the digestive tract.

Federal regulators are set to release the most sweeping antitrust rules covering the meat industry in decades, potentially altering the balance of power between meat companies and the farmers who raise their animals.

Activists, farmers and meat industry officials have been anxiously awaiting the new rules, which will be released this spring for public comment and are set to take effect this summer. The regulations are seen as a kind of litmus test for the Obama administration and how far it will go in regulating competition in the meat industry.

The U.S. government is not fully guarding against the contamination of meat by traces of antibiotics, pesticides or heavy metals, a new report warns.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s inspector general said federal agencies have failed to set limits on many potentially harmful chemical residues, which "has resulted in meat with these substances being distributed in commerce."

The organic movement has taken the world by storm. But what’s truly healthy and what’s just hype? The manager of a grass-fed beef farm breaks it down.

With skeptical, beef-centric films like Food, Inc. and Fast Food Nation encouraging the American consumer to question the source of their meat, how do you know what to ask? Mark Maynard, farm manager of the Greyledge grass-fed beef farm, offers five basic queries that will help clear up a lot.